Collar stay for a shirt collar

ABSTRACT

A stay is provided for a shirt collar having transverse tubes formed integrally at respective ends of the collar. The stay comprises an elongate stiffener body and hook means for engaging fabric material of the shirt collar as the stiffener body is slidably inserted into a respective transverse tube of the collar. The hook means resists sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the transverse tube of the shirt collar in a reverse direction after insertion to ensure that the stays do not fall out of the tubes as the collars are handled in the interim before assembly onto a finished garment. The hook means are particularly useful for resisting sliding movement between the stays and the knitted tubes of a knitted collar because the hook means readily engages the chained loops of threaded material forming the tubes in knitted collars.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to collar stay for a shirt collar, and more particularly to a shirt collar having collar stays inserted therein, in which the collar stays include integral means for retaining the stays within the collar.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The use of collar stays in collars is known for providing a stiffer collar having a tidier and less casual appearance. U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,732 to Friedman and U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,278 to O'Connor describe and illustrate a knitted collar construction having tubes or pockets formed at respective ends thereof which permit a conventional collar stay to be slidably received therein. The collar stays in each instance are flat with straight longitudinal edges for ease of insertion. This configuration of the stays however requires additional means for retaining the stays within the tubes of the collar in the interim before securement of the collars to a finished garment at which point the stays are contained within the respective tubes. Conventionally, the retaining means of the stays within the tubes generally comprises the use of stitching partway across the tube to partially restrict removal of the stay in the interim. This construction however also partly restricts insertion of the stays, resulting in losses in time and labour costs due to the additionally required awkward manipulation of the stays during assembly of the collars.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,435 to Williams and U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,347 to Light describe variations to collar stay construction, however neither are suited for use with collars having respective tubes in the collar within which the stays are slidably received. In both instances, stays are described having lateral projects which serve to restrict sliding movement in both longitudinal directions of the stay relative to respective slots in the collar which receive the stays transversely therethrough. The stays therefore could not even be inserted into the tubes required for receiving a stay in a knitted collar construction for example.

SUMMARY

[0004] According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a collar stay for a shirt collar having transverse tubes formed integrally at respective ends of the shirt collar, the collar stay comprising:

[0005] an elongate stiffener body extending in a longitudinal direction for being slidably received within a transverse tube of the shirt collar; and

[0006] hook means extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the stiffener body for engaging the shirt collar to resist sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the transverse tube of the shirt collar in one direction.

[0007] According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a shirt collar comprising:

[0008] an elongate collar body having transverse tubes formed integrally at respective ends of the collar body; and

[0009] a collar stay comprising an elongate stiffener body extending in a longitudinal direction for being slidably received within one of the transverse tubes of the collar body;

[0010] each collar stay including hook means extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the stiffener body for engaging the shirt collar to resist sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the transverse tube of the shirt collar in one direction.

[0011] The use of a stiffener body which is arranged for being slidably received in a shirt collar tube permits use of the collar stays on a variety of collars including knitted collars. The addition of hook means on the collar stays ensures that the stays do not easily fall out of the tubes of the collars as the collars are handled in the interim before assembly onto a finished garment. The hook means are particularly useful for resisting relative sliding movement between the stays and the knitted tubes of a knitted collar as the hook means readily engages the chained loops of threaded material forming the tubes in knitted collars.

[0012] The hook means are preferably wider than the stiffener body and a respective transverse tube of the shirt collar to ensure engagement of the hook means within the material of the shirt collar.

[0013] The hook means and the stiffener body of each collar stay preferably lie in a generally common plane for ease of manufacture of flat plastic material, however hook means extending in any direction relative to the stiffener body while still being arranged for gripping the fabric material of the collar could be used.

[0014] The hook means of each collar stay comprises plural longitudinally spaced hooks, the hooks are preferably oriented in a common direction to resist sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the shirt collar in one direction only. All respective forward edges of the hook means and the stiffener body of each collar stay, in the preferred embodiment, are thus tapered rearwardly and outwardly from a central longitudinal axis of the stiffener body for ease of insertion.

[0015] The hook means of each collar stay may be arranged to project outwardly from one side only of the stiffener body. A straight edge along an outer side of the collar stay is preferred, with the hook means of each collar stay projecting inwardly towards the collar stay at an opposing end of the collar body, to provide a clean outer edge to the collar.

[0016] The collar body is preferably formed of knitted fabric material in which the transverse tubes are integrally knit.

[0017] The hook means of each collar stay is preferably wider than a respective transverse tube of the collar body in a relaxed position of the knitted fabric material by approximately 0.5 millimetres. The stiffener body of each collar stay however, is preferably narrower than a respective transverse tube of the collar body in a relaxed position of the knitted fabric material by approximately 0.5 millimetres. Due to the resilient nature of the knitted fabric material, and because the collars are known to shrink slightly upon washing when assembled in a shirt, an unshrunken and relaxed transverse tube width in the order of 4 to 6 millimetres could be used effectively when the stiffener body is 4.5 millimetres in width and the hooks means in combination with the stiffener body is 5.5 millimetres in width.

[0018] When the knitted fabric material forming the elongate collar body includes a plurality of wales in the form of chained loops of threaded material and the wales extend generally perpendicularly to a longitudinal direction of the collar body, the transverse tubes of the collar body preferably lie generally parallel to the wales at the ends of the collar body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:

[0020]FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a knitted shirt collar within which the collar stays are inserted.

[0021]FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of one of the collar stays shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Referring to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a collar stay generally indicated by reference numeral 30. The collar stay 30 is intended for use with a shirt collar 12, and more particularly a shirt collar of the type formed of knitted fabric material. The collar stay is particularly useful for ribbed knit used in collars of knit shirts 14 to which the collar 12 is later secured.

[0023] In the illustrated embodiment, the shirt collar 12 generally comprises an elongate body formed of knitted fabric material which is longer in a longitudinal direction of the collar. The collar is generally rectangular in shape, being approximately 17½ inches in length and 3½ inches in depth. The knitted fabric material is formed by a plurality of wales 20 which form ribs lying generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the collar. Each wale 20 generally comprises a chain of loops of threaded material extending across the collar.

[0024] Opposed ends 22 of the collar each include an integrally knit transverse tube 24 formed therein. Each tube is a dead-end pocket formed in the direction of the wales 20 as in conventional rib knit collars having stays supported therein. Each tube 24 includes a closed end 26 at a free edge 28 of the collar which is enclosed by appropriate stitching.

[0025] Each of the transverse tubes 24 is arranged to receive one of the collar stays 30 slidably therein. Each collar stay 30 comprises a flat plastic member of the type which can be readily manufactured by stamping from a plastic sheet. The plastic material of the collar stay 30 is sufficiently rigid as compared to the knitted fabric material of the collar to provide considerable stiffening of the collar when the stays are inserted in the respective tubes 24.

[0026] Each stay 30 includes an elongate stiffener body 32 which extends generally straight between a forward leading edge 34 and a rearward trailing edge 36 thereof. The forward edge 34 of the stiffener body tapers rearwardly and outwardly from a central longitudinal axis of the stiffener body so as to have a generally smooth and curved profile for ease of insertion into the respective tube 24 of the collar. The rear trailing edge 36 is similarly curved.

[0027] A pair of hooks 40 are provided on the stiffener body 32 of each collar stay 30 for the purposes of preventing reverse sliding movement only of the collar stay relative to the surrounding tube 24 of the collar once the stay has been inserted into the tube. The hooks 40 extend laterally outwardly from a longitudinal direction of the elongate stiffener body at longitudinally spaced positions between the ends of the stiffener body. The hooks 40 are co-planar with the elongate stiffener body and are formed integrally with the stiffener body from the same sheet of plastic material when manufactured.

[0028] The hooks 40 are located commonly on the inner side 42 only of the stiffener body, having the same dimensions and being oriented in the same direction for even engagement with the surrounding tube 24 of the collar. An opposite outer side 44 of the stiffener body opposite the hooks 40 is straight for defining a clean longitudinally extending edge of the collar stay 30 so as to prevent any bunching or deformation of the collar at the outer edge thereof which might otherwise occur when hooks are also provided on the outer edge. As illustrated however, the hooks 40 are located only on the inner side 42 so as to project inwardly towards the opposing collar stay 30 at an opposing end of the collar body.

[0029] Each hook 40 includes a curved forward leading edge 46 which similarly curves outwardly and rearwardly from the central longitudinal axis of the stiffener body. A rear edge 48 of each hook similarly extends rearwardly and outwardly substantially parallel to the respective forward leading edge 46. The rear and forward edges 48 and 46 meet at a rearward facing apex 50 which is suitably orientated for hooking loops of threaded material in the surrounding tube 24 of the collar. The apex 50 of each hook 40 in use, may engage actual loops of threaded material in the chains provided by the wales 20 or may engage the knitted material by being embedded in the crevices between adjacent loops of the chains of loops provided by the wales.

[0030] An overall width of the collar stay 30 in a lateral direction at the hooks 40 including the width of the stiffener body and the hooks together is approximately 5.5 millimetres (mm) in the illustrated example. The overall width at the hooks 40 is thus wider than a cross section of the surrounding transverse tube which is only 5.0 mm in width in the illustrated example, in a relaxed position of the knitted material. In this same example, the stiffener body 32 of the collar stay is approximately 4.5 mm in width so as to be somewhat narrower than the tube while being substantially narrower than the width of the stay at the hooks 40. Length of the stiffener body is approximately 45 mm to occupy only approximately half of the length of a respective tube 24 before assembly into a finished garment.

[0031] In use, a collar according to the present invention is knit with integrally knit tubes 24 at respective opposed ends of the collar body in the direction of the wales. Stays 30 are provided with hooks 40 pointing away from a forward leading edge 34 of the stays, on an inner side 42 only for being readily inserted into the respective tubes 24. The resilient nature of the ribs formed of chains of loops of threaded material in the knitted fabric material cause deflection of these loops of threaded material about the leading edge of the hooks during insertion of the stays within the respective tubes so that the hooks 40 provide a practically imperceptible degree of resistance to the insertion of the stays within the tubes of the collar. The resilient nature of the knitted fabric material and the expected shrinkage upon subsequent washing of a garment having the collar and stays assembled thereon, ensures snugness of the entire stiffener body within the respective tube of the collar. The clean outer edge of the stiffener body of each collar stay ensures that the edges of the collar at opposed ends of the body thereof remain smooth in profile regardless of subsequent shrinkage of the tube about the collar stay or any minor variations to the ideal dimensions.

[0032] While one embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A collar stay for a shirt collar having transverse tubes formed integrally at respective ends of the shirt collar, the collar stay comprising: an elongate stiffener body extending in a longitudinal direction for being slidably received within a transverse tube of the shirt collar; and hook means extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the stiffener body for engaging the shirt collar to resist sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the transverse tube of the shirt collar in one direction.
 2. The collar stay according to claim 1 wherein the hook means are wider than the stiffener body.
 3. The collar stay according to claim 1 wherein the hook means are wider than a cross section of a respective transverse tube of the shirt collar.
 4. The collar stay according to claim 1 wherein the hook means and the stiffener body lie in a generally common plane.
 5. The collar stay according to claim 1 wherein the hook means are oriented in a common direction to resist sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the shirt collar in one direction only.
 6. The collar stay according to claim 1 wherein all respective forward edges of the hook means and the stiffener body are tapered rearwardly and outwardly from a central longitudinal axis of the stiffener body.
 7. The collar stay according to claim 1 wherein the hook means project outwardly from one side only of the stiffener body.
 8. The collar stay according to claim 8 wherein the stiffener body includes a straight edge along one side thereof opposite the hook means.
 9. A shirt collar comprising: an elongate collar body having transverse tubes formed integrally at respective ends of the collar body; and a collar stay comprising an elongate stiffener body extending in a longitudinal direction for being slidably received within one of the transverse tubes of the collar body; each collar stay including hook means extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the stiffener body for engaging the shirt collar to resist sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the transverse tube of the shirt collar in one direction.
 10. The shirt collar according to claim 9 wherein the hook means are wider than the stiffener body.
 11. The shirt collar according to claim 9 wherein the hook means are wider than a cross section of a respective transverse tube of the shirt collar.
 12. The shirt collar according to claim 9 wherein the hook means and the stiffener body of each collar stay lie in a generally common plane.
 13. The shirt collar according to claim 9 wherein the hook means of each collar stay are oriented in a common direction to resist sliding movement of the stiffener body relative to the shirt collar in one direction only.
 14. The shirt collar according to claim 9 wherein all respective forward edges of the hook means and the stiffener body of each collar stay are tapered rearwardly and outwardly from a central longitudinal axis of the stiffener body.
 15. The shirt collar according to claim 9 wherein the hook means of each collar stay project outwardly from one side only of the stiffener body.
 16. The shirt collar according to claim 15 wherein each stiffener body includes a straight edge along an outer side thereof opposite the hook means.
 17. The shirt collar according to claim 9 wherein the collar body is formed of knitted fabric material in which the transverse tubes are integrally knit.
 18. The shirt collar according to claim 17 wherein the hook means of each collar stay is wider than a respective transverse tube of the collar body in a relaxed position of the knitted fabric material by approximately 0.5 millimetres.
 19. The shirt collar according to claim 17 wherein the stiffener body of each collar stay is narrower than a respective transverse tube of the collar body in a relaxed position of the knitted fabric material by approximately 0.5 millimetres.
 20. The shirt collar according to claim 17 wherein the knitted fabric material forming the elongate collar body includes a plurality of wales in the form of chained loops extending generally perpendicularly to a longitudinal direction of the collar body, the transverse tubes of the collar body lying generally parallel to the wales at the ends of the collar body. 